With the presence of Farseek, along with so many high-quality gold cards and dual lands in the current Standard environment, most of the top decks are three colors, and even the mostly-mono-colored decks have at least a splash, such as the base-red aggro decks that splash either green or white. This led me to spend some time considering if there were some cards being underused because they were best suited to mono-colored decks, such as the black deck Conley Woods played at Pro Tour: Gatecrash. This then led me to think about mono-green. The main reason to play mono-green at the moment is for Predator Ooze. Predator Ooze is exciting in part because it’s such a good target for enhancement—as with Rancor—because it’s so hard to kill. This led me to think about how cool it would be to play Increasing Savagery on Predator Ooze. Not long after this point is when it all clicked into place.

I realized I would need at least some black because I wanted to try out a totally overlooked card: Corpsejack Menace. As nice as it is to play Increasing Savagery with a Menace in play, I wanted it to be really good the turn I cast the Menace, not just later when I untapped. This meant finding more cards like the Ooze, which can gain counters even if I’m tapped out. Fortunately, there were several good options in black and green: Strangleroot Geist, Lotleth Troll, and anything with evolve all seemed to have potential. This is what took shape:

"Golgari Menace"

• Creatures (28)
• 4 Arbor Elf
• 4 Corpsejack Menace
• 4 Dreg Mangler
• 4 Experiment One
• 4 Lotleth Troll
• 4 Predator Ooze
• 4 Strangleroot Geist

• Spells (8)
• 4 Increasing Savagery
• 4 Rancor

• Lands (24)
• 12 Forest
• 4 Swamp
• 4 Overgrown Tomb
• 4 Woodland Cemetery

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Deathrite Shaman
• 4 Tragic Slip
• 4 Sever the Bloodline
• 3 Abrupt Decay

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Experiment One – I can make my turn-one Experiment bigger on turn two with a Strangleroot Geist or Lotleth Troll, evolve it again on turn three with a Dreg Mangler, and then give it 2 counters with a Corpsejack Menace on turn four. Not only does it have great synergy with Geist and Menace, but it’s great with Savagery and Rancor. A giant trampling Experiment can break creature stalemates by attacking alone while you hold everyone else back as blockers. If the opponent blocks with enough guys to kill it, you just regenerate it.

Strangleroot Geist – Always a great card in a base-green deck, it’s especially good here. It can pump an Experiment twice, and it receives two counters when it returns to play if there’s a Menace on the board.

Lotleth Troll – It can pump your turn-one Experiment, it’s great to have a trampling regenerator to put Increasing Savagery on, and Menace makes each creature you pitch give it 2 counters. It also allows you to put Manglers directly in the graveyard if needed.

Predator Ooze – A solid card against both aggro and control, it also has great synergy with the deck. Both Rancor and Increasing Savagery benefit from having an indestructible creature to target. It also immediately benefits the turn you play a Menace.

Corpsejack Menace – Here’s the cornerstone of the deck. A 4/4 for 4 mana is solid, but his ability can be pretty insane in this deck. Experiments, Trolls, Geists, and Oozes can all immediately benefit the turn you play a Menace. Just playing the Menace sometimes feels like a mini Overrun.

Increasing Savagery – Generally a powerful card in a green deck with a lot of creatures, it’s especially good in this deck. It’s terrific on an Ooze, an Experiment, or a Troll, and it has good synergy with Rancor. I’ve even flashed it back for 10 counters, and that was game over. Playing Savagery with a Menace in play is also really sick.

Rancor – Giving trample to a creature you’ve made gigantic with counters is really powerful, but Rancor is also good for making your Elves into a threat. I also appreciate the fact that it can give you some resilience against mass removal. After the opponent blows everything up, you bring back your Rancor, and if you have one of your eight haste creatures to put it on, you’re right back in business.

Tragic Slip – This is super-cheap instant removal for almost anything. It kills pretty much any 1-drop, and it can be great for getting rid of Falkenrath Aristocrats or other Oozes. In matchups with a lot of combat, this can be used to kill pretty much anything.

Sever the Bloodline – This is great against Reanimator, tokens, Zombies, or pretty much any deck with a lot of creatures. Against most creature-heavy decks, I take out the Rancors and Savageries for removal.

Abrupt Decay – Some decks (such as Zoo, Naya Humans, and Zombies) are comprised almost entirely of creatures that die to this card. If the deck has Oblivion Rings or Detention Spheres I can blow up with it, that’s even better.

Rancor is the card I sideboard out the most frequently, and Savagery is second. I try not to mess up what the deck is trying to do by over-sideboarding, and sometimes, I don’t sideboard at all. I played several matches with the deck online, and I had very solid results. The deck seems great against Jund control/midrange and most aggro decks. It has some difficulty with Reanimator and control decks with Supreme Verdict, but both of those matchups are quite winnable. Having undying, haste, regeneration, and indestructibility on various creatures in your deck definitely helps you play through mass removal.

• I played a turn-one Elf and a turn-two Ooze, and on turn three, I played Increasing Savagery on my Ooze, and the game was pretty much over.
• I played a Menace with two Experiments in play, and they both became 3/3s. My opponent blocked and killed my Strangleroot Geist, and it came back as a 4/3, which triggered my Experiments, and they became 5/5s.
• I played Increasing Savagery on a Troll with a Menace in play, and it became a 12/11 trampling regenerator that I could give +2/+2 to by discarding a creature.
• I played a Menace with a 1/1 Ooze and a 2/2 Ooze in play and immediately attacked for 7.
• You get the picture. Giant monsters crushing everything in their paths . . . Roar!